Pastor Dawn will be on vacation June 7-20. If you have a pastoral concern during that time, please be in touch with Pastor Nathan (June 7-20).
Any graduates out there?! This year BCMC celebrated 5 high school graduates, but we know there are others in our community who have graduated this year too. We’d love to hear from you! Whether you graduated from high school, college, or graduate level please let us know your accomplishment. Email Renee Reimer at renee@bethelcollegemennonitechurch.org with name, accomplishment, and school/program name. Click here for a current list.
June 6 offering at BCMC: General Fund $6,560; Transfer-General $83.65; Camp Mennoscah $30; Caring Fund $525; Living Stones $540; Transfer-Funeral $350; Helen Ruth Unruh Memorial $50; Phil Koontz Memorial $325.
June 13 offering at BCMC: General Fund: $1,927; Sr Hi Youth $600; Living Stones $13.33
Group Subscription Renewal NoticesAnabaptist World — If you wish to renew “Anabaptist World” with the church’s group subscription, send or bring $39.00 to the church office by June 25. Rejoice Devotional Magazine — If you wish to renew the devotional magazine, “Rejoice” send or bring $32.10 to the church office by June 25.
Vacation Bible School
Bethel College Mennonite Church is teaming up with Casa Betania, Faith Mennonite Church, First Mennonite Church, New Creation Fellowship, and Shalom Mennonite Church to offer Vacation Bible School the week of June 28- July 2, 2021. At home VBS bags (filled with lessons, crafts, and activities) will be delivered to homes before the week of June 28, pre-recorded dramas and music with familiar faces will be available, and an in-person field day will take place on Friday, July 2nd from 9-11am. Sign-up here if your child ages 3-5th grade would like to participate.
Summer Sunday School for Children
Outdoor Summer Sunday School for Children and Youth will take place July 4, 11, 18, and 25 on the BCMC playground. All ages are welcome as we will be playing outdoor team building games together.
Dedication of the Kitchen and Fellowship Hall
The kitchen and Fellowship Hall renovation project is completed! In worship on Sunday, June 27, we will have a dedication for the new space and say thank you to those who helped bring this project to completion. Following worship, you will have a chance to wander through the basement and see the finished space, including a new accessible family restroom! After your walk- through, enjoy refreshments out on the playground, compliments of the Hospitality Commission.
| 2021 Kansas MCC Sale is July 2 and 3! Please take a moment to visit the KMRS table in the sanctuary at any time during the coming weeks. A sign up for pies, zwieback and other baked goods will be available with bags and tins provided. Anything is welcome! Run for Relief forms can be found at the table, or by visiting the KMRS website at kansas.mccsale.org. Volunteers for working are needed and are being asked to sign up at the website kansas.mccsale.org. Click on the volunteer link. Contact people are Dale and Margo Schrag, 316-283-6031 and Dennis and Kathy Campbell, 316-416-5156.Urgent Need for the Kansas Mennonite Central Committee Relief SaleVolunteers needed to make this year’s Relief Sale possible. Please visit our sale website and plan to help a shift or two. Also, help is needed to make Verenika on Wednesday, June 30 in Hillsboro for the Feeding the Multitude meal: https://kansas.mccsale.org/volunteer/. Craft Booth Announcement– Kansas Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale Attached is a bulletin/mailbox insert from the MCC Sale Kansas Craft booth about items needed for the sale. Click here for the insert. New Hope Shelter Announcement For anyone considering becoming an evening volunteer at New Hope Shelter, this is a summary of the duties of evening volunteers:After arriving at 5:00, meet the New Hope staff evening coordinator and review the board that has photos of residents.Help prepare the serving area for the evening meal at 6:00, and help serve the meal. Take care of any leftovers and wash the dishes in the dishwasher, clean up the kitchen area.Help residents prepare sack lunches for the following day.There will be time to interact with the residents, and this is encouraged.Anyone wanting to serve is asked to take a brief orientation. Contact Valetta Seymour with questions: 620-217-7536, seymour2314@gmail.com |
Bethel College Announcement
A team from Bethel College will participate this week (June 22-25) in the 2021 Institute for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers. The American Association of Colleges & Universities sponsors the training institute, conducted virtually this year, which has as its goal to dismantle belief in a racial hierarchy based on skin color, physical characteristics and/or country of origin, as a way to eliminate racism. Bethel is one of 78 institutions (the only one from Kansas) that will be participating in the training in order to explore forming TRHT centers on their own campuses. Bethel’s team is Christine Crouse-Dick, Peter Goerzen, Robert Milliman, Sheryl Wilson and Kirsten Zerger.
Mennonite Central Committee Announcements
Virtual Borderlands Learning Tour, June 28 – July 2 from 2-5 p.m. CDT each day via Zoom Engage with the reality of immigration from a different perspective. Through virtual conversations, participants will hear first-hand from folks on the ground about the complexities of the U.S. immigration system, U.S. immigration policies that have worked to dismantle the asylum-seeking process, and the human factor on various sides of the spectrum. For more information and to register: mcc.org/gl-virtual-borderlands.
June 22 at 7 p.m. CDT join James Wheeler & Linda Herr, Area Directors for Europe & Middle East, to hear The Gift of Love: Doing our part for healing and wholeness in the world. Register for the webinar at mcc.org/mcc-webinar-series.
The MCC Alumni Gathering is July 9-11 and all MCC alumni and their families are invited to join us at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp. Please sign up by June 25!
Current openings at MCC can be found at mcc.org. Current open positions include Canning & Trucking Manager, Multimedia Producer, Meat Canner and many international service opportunities.
Bring dark colored hand towels for hygiene kits, or money for relief kits to the MCC booth at the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale (July 2 & 3 in Hutchinson), to help replenish our supplies. Both of these kits have been used for COVID-19 relief efforts around the world and MCC needs more to fulfill requests from partners! You’ll find us in Sunflower North, where the General Auction takes place. See you at the sale!
Western District Conference Announcements
1. WDC Annual Assembly, July 30-Aug 1 is by donation this year! We’ll tell you what the cost of this hybrid event is, and you give as you can. If you plan to be on-site, you’re welcome to order a box lunch on Saturday or bring your own. Food trucks will offer a variety of supper options on Saturday to purchase for on-site participants. For more Assembly info, go to: https://mennowdc.org/2021-wdc-annual-assembly/
2. Special Annual Assembly Storytelling Opportunity! WDC’s Assembly theme July 30-August 1 is “Woven into God’s Story.” StoryCorps has invited WDC to partner with their storytelling project, One Small Step, to share and record our own stories within WDC. One Small Step is an initiative to facilitate conversations across differences, between people who may disagree politically. (Facilitators are bilingual in Spanish and English.) It’s not a debate. It’s a chance to spend time virtually with someone different than you and discover the stories behind each other’s beliefs. To join another WDC member for an online conversation, sign up at https://onesmallstep.storycorps.org/wdc/. The registration deadline is June 25 and virtual recordings will be scheduled July 28-30 (space is limited). For more information about One Small Step see attached flyer.
3. Staff position opening: WDC seeks a full time Administrative Assistant to work out of its North Newton, KS office, beginning August 25. Responsibilities include office management, communications, records management, scheduling, and administrative support for staff. Qualifications include strong organizational, computer and communication skills, ability to collaborate as part of a team, and willingness to promote WDC’s mission and priorities. For more information, position description and application materials, contact Heidi Regier Kreider, Conference Minister, at heidirk@mennowdc.org or 316-283-6300.
Camp Mennoscah announcements
1. Family Weekend at Camp Mennoscah on July 17-18! If you are looking for a weekend to escape, Family Weekend offers a smorgasbord of camp activities for you to choose from and plenty of time to roam the river and be with your family and friends. Register at campmennoscah.org and contact 620-297-3290 with questions!
2. Extra help and hands needed for summer youth camps! Camp Mennoscah has paid and volunteer positions for grounds, maintenance and custodial positions. For those of college age, there is a weekly stipend position that could be a lifeguard, grounds, or custodial position. Contact Camp Mennoscah at 620-297-3290 or olivia.bartel@campmennoscah.org for details. You will make camp an amazing experience for everyone!
Mennonite church announcements
1. Interested in short-term service opportunities? Ask us about SOOP! We’d love to speak with your congregation about the awesome service opportunities that we can provide through SOOP. Contact LaurenEH@MennoniteMission.net for more information.
2. Iris de León-Hartshorn, associate executive director of Mennonite Church USA, offers a response to the hatred and brutality that continues against the Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the United States. Read her call to action here: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/respond-to-hatred
3. In “Reclaiming my Indonesian Heritage,” Syerafina Himawan, an Indonesian-American teenager, shares some of her experiences dealing with racism in high school. Himawan explores how her friends’ racist actions caused her to abandon her heritage, only to later have her love of her Indonesian culture reinvigorated. https://www.mennoniteusa.org/reclaiming-indonesian-heritage
4. Have you heard that MennoCon21, Mennonite Church USA’s biennium convention, will be offering a Bible study each morning, led by Safwat Marzouk? Marzouk reflects on the themes that will be covered each morning, in his blog, “Peace and Justice Amid the Pandemics of COVID-19 and Racism.” https://www.mennoniteusa.org/peace-justice-amid-covid-racism
5. Make the most of your Voices Together experience by exploring the depths of the Voices Together website. Read Katie Graber’s blog, “Best-kept Secrets of the Voices Together Website,” to ensure you don’t miss anything! https://www.mennoniteusa.org/secrets-voices-together-website
6. Want to know more about the exciting things happening across our denomination? Subscribe to PeaceMail, Mennonite Church USA’s weekly news digest: mennoniteusa.org/peacemail
7. Mennonite Heritage and Ag Museum in Goessel is having the 2021 Antique, Classic Car, Truck and Motorcycle Show at 200 N. Poplar in Goessel, KS on June 19 from 10 am – 3 pm. Free admission to the museum all day, Museum “Garage” sale, Hot dog meal deal starts at 11 am, Free ice cream bars 1-2pm sponsored by Goessel Recreation Commission. $ 10 Exhibitor’s entry fee. 620-367-8200. Come “Fill Your Tank With Memories”.
KIPCOR’s Spring 2021 Newsletter
Read about our recent Peace Lecture featuring Leonard Pitts Jr., our new academic minor and the students who have completed it, our foray into online (via Zoom) training, our new staff member, and MORE!!
You can read the newsletter on online with pages that flip here:
https://www.flipsnack.com/KIPCOR/kipcor-spring-2021-newsletter.html
(just click on the “+” sign at the bottom of the screen to expand the newsletter, and then ‘grab and drag’ the open page to se the article you’re interested in.)
or on KIPCOR’s website as a PDF here:
https://kipcor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Newsletter-Spring-2021-Individual-pages.pdf
Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request: On this Father’s Day, pray with Mennonite Mission Network that God, who makes all the people of world into one family, will bless the fathers in our world with the resources to help provide for their children, so they will have the joy of seeing their children blossom physically, mentally, socially and spiritually.
Western District Conference Prayer Request: Pray for health and strength for pastors in WDC, as they work with congregational leaders to provide leadership, care and direction for church communities.